GFL raises $1.4B with IPO amid market volatility

GFL Environmental Inc., Toronto, raised approximately $1.4 billion with its initial public offering (IPO) March 2, Reuters reports. GFL priced its IPO at $19 per share, giving the company a valuation of $6.08 billion. This is compared to its target range of $20-21 per share. According to the report, pricing the IPO below the company’s target range was an effort to protect it against the market volatility present due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The pricing of the IPO came a day earlier than expected as markets bounced back from the downturn experienced the previous week. GFL Founder and CEO Patrick Dovigi told Reuters that the early pricing was due to strong demand during book-building, and that the IPO was one of the largest in Canadian history.

GFL originally announced the launch of its IPO on Oct. 23, 2019. However, on Nov. 5, 2019, the company canceled the IPO after the pricing of its shares failed to meet the company’s expectations. The company had sought to raise as much as $2.1 billion at between $20 and $24 a share. According to Bloomberg, the banks running the IPO “only got support for the offering at about $18 a share, according to people familiar with the matter.”

“At a price below the range, the shareholders decided it wasn’t fair value,” GFL founder and CEO Patrick Dovigi said upon the cancelation. “We will revisit at a later date.”